Blood test will show if you have antibodies to protect against measles

(WISN) — If you got the measles vaccine between 1963 and 1989, you may need a booster.

The vaccine was developed in 1963. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the early versions of the vaccine, between 1963 and 1967, were ineffective at killing the virus.

Even after they developed stronger vaccines, up until 1989, doctors only required patients to get one shot. Nowadays, patients get a second booster.

On Monday, the CDC said more than 700 people have been diagnosed with the measles in the United States this year.

The CDC said if you were born before 1957, you likely don’t need the measles vaccine. Since the vaccine wasn’t developed until 1963, the majority of people before then naturally contracted the virus. Anyone who’s had the measles before, likely won’t get the virus again.

The epicenter of the outbreak is in New York, where Fox Point native Ruth Lebed is traveling in June.

Lebed has friends who had their blood tested and found out they don’t have the antibodies to protect against the measles.

“Either they got a vaccine that didn’t last or they needed a booster or for some reason it didn’t stick,” Lebed said.

Lebed got her blood tested last week and is good to go. She wants other people to do the same.

Measles is “really dangerous and it’s a simple test. For me, the cost benefit analysis was easy. You just get it done,” Lebed said.